The center served to train more than 42,000 sailors for shipboard mine counter measures. The facility was decommissioned as a result of the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure round, which ordered the consolidation of the center with Fleet Anti-submarine Warfare Training Center San Diego, Calif.

The 2005 BRAC round also ordered the closure of the Ingleside base, scheduled for April. Capt. Joseph R. Darlak, the center’s officiating officer, read the 2005 BRAC orders before about 75 people gathered in front of the building and ordered the flag and sign removed.

Brian Brehm, the center’s facilities director, used a chisel to remove the letters. He, along with 15 other civilians who worked at the center, were recognized by Darlak for their dedication to the Navy.

“The first time I came to Ingleside, I was greeted by a big sign that said ‘You are entering Navy country,’” said Darlak, who came to the base in April. “This closing is bittersweet. Bitter because we’re leaving this community, these great facilities and great friends. Sweet because we’re embarking on a new adventure.”

Retired Capt. Charles G. Belcher is a former commanding officer of the center. He said that although the change is like walking into the unknown, the challenge is to find hope and promise in the move.

“We can mourn the loss of this center or remember its legacy,” Belcher said. “Some will stay and some will come back. But all will remember their time in Ingleside.”

Darlak said one student remains at the center and about 40 are training in San Diego. Base spokeswoman Fifi Kieschnick said about 500 people remain employed at the base.

A redevelopment effort under the auspices of the Port of Corpus Christi is under way to offset the loss of 4,135 civilian direct and indirect jobs and nearly 3,000 military personnel when the base closes. The Navy will return ownership of the main base property, about 576 acres, to the port.

The port hired Texas A&M University System earlier this year to plan and implement the redevelopment of those acres along with 433 neighboring port-owned acres. The Navy has not determined how it will dispose of 155 surplus acres known as the Electromagnetic Roll Facility.